Southbridge Water Dept. worker charged in theft of brass fittings

SOUTHBRIDGE — A Southbridge Water Department worker has allegedly been stealing brass fittings from the town for months and selling the metal for scrap to pay for his pain pill addiction.

Justin J. Bruso, 26, of 179 Eastford Road, is charged with two count of breaking and entering, daytime, to commit a felony; two counts of larceny over $250; and larceny over $250 by a single scheme.

Mr. Bruso was arraigned Monday at Dudley District Court. Bail was set at $500. A pretrial hearing is slated for Sept. 3.

White Water Inc. is contracted by the town of Southbridge to operate as the Southbridge Water Department.

According to Southbridge Police Detective Evan T. Genkos' report, foreman Steven Blanchard said that he discovered a significant amount of brass inventory missing, and the amount exceeded any significant work the Water Department had recently conducted. Mr. Blanchard said the missing inventory was stored inside a caged room in the Department of Public Works building, at 185 Guelphwood Road.

On July 17, Mr. Blanchard and division manager Thomas Cutler said they suspected Mr. Bruso, a service technician for the Southbridge Water Department for 10 months, of being the culprit.

Mr. Blanchard said that he noticed the majority of storage bins containing brass fittings needed to conduct specific water-related repair jobs were empty. He also found that two main service trucks had been stripped of all supplies, according to the police report.

Assorted sizes of nipples, curb stops, corps (tap main install), bushings, elbows and meter blank flanges, all made of brass, as well as rolls of copper wire, were missing. Mr. Blanchard and Mr. Cutler estimated between $10,000 and $15,000 worth of supplies were stolen, the police report states.

No damage was done to the cage door or the lock, which led them to believe that it was an "inside job" and a water department employee who had a key, according to the report.

During his investigation, Detective Genkos found that Mr. Bruso made 25 transactions (between May 3 and July 15) with Excel Recycling in Charlton. Excel's paperwork showed Mr. Bruso was paid $3,726.62 for scrapped materials, $1,940 of which was paid for 1,176 pounds of brass. The paperwork also indicated that Mr. Bruso scrapped copper wire and catalytic converters, the police report states.

According to the police report, Mr. Bruso told one of the yard workers at Excel Recycling that his boss gave him the brass to scrap.

Recovered video surveillance from Excel Recycling shows Mr. Bruso conducting a transaction on July 15 while using a company truck, and Mr. Bruso's vehicle entering the 185 Guelphwood Road property on July 3 after work hours.

A detailed log report of the water department's storage shed, located at 511 Breakneck Road, shows Mr. Bruso entered his password/ID number on eight occasions after work hours and twice during weekends from Jan. 28 through July 3.

During a police interview, Detecive Genkos advised Mr. Bruso that he was aware of his past addiction to pain pills and his rehab treatment. Mr. Bruso told the detective that he started taking Percocet 30 mg pills about three months ago, about the same time he allegedly started stealing from work. Mr. Bruso said all the money went to his pill addiction, according to the police report.

Mr. Bruso also told the detective that every time he stole it was after hours, and that he was high on the pills most of the time while stealing the material, the report states.